Ultra-fast outflows (UFOs) are seen in many AGN, giving a possible mode for AGN feedback onto the host galaxy. However, the mechanism(s) for the launch and acceleration of these outflows are currently unknown, with UV line driving apparently strongly
disfavoured as the material along the line of sight is so highly ionised that it has no UV transitions. We revisit this issue using the Suzaku X-ray data from PDS 456, an AGN with the most powerful UFO seen in the local Universe. We explore conditions in the wind by developing a new 3-D Monte-Carlo code for radiation transport. The code only handles highly ionised ions, but the data show the ionisation state of the wind is high enough that this is appropriate, and this restriction makes it fast enough to explore parameter space. We reproduce the results of earlier work, confirming that the mass loss rate in the wind is around 30% of the inferred inflow rate through the outer disc. We show for the first time that UV line driving is likely to be a major contribution to the wind acceleration. The mass loss rate in the wind matches that predicted from a purely line driven system, and this UV absorption can take place out of the line of sight. Continuum driving should also play a role as the source is close to Eddington. This predicts that the most extreme outflows will be produced from the highest mass accretion rate flows onto high mass black holes, as observed.
Conventional coupled-channels analyses, that take account of only the collective excitations of the colliding nuclei, have failed to reproduce the different behavior of the experimental quasi-elastic barrier distributions for the $^{20}$Ne + $^{90,92
}$Zr systems. To clarify the origins of this difference, we investigate the effect of non-collective excitations of the Zr isotopes. Describing these excitations in a random-matrix model, we explicitly take them into account in our coupled-channels calculations. The non-collective excitations are capable of reproducing the observed smearing of the peak structure in the barrier distribution for $^{20}$Ne + $^{92}$Zr, while not significantly altering the structure observed in the $^{20}$Ne + $^{90}$Zr system. The difference is essentially related to the closed neutron shell in $^{90}$Zr.
We solve the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (HFB) equations for a spherical mean field and a pairing potential with the inverse Hamiltonian method, which we have developed for the solution of the Dirac equation. This method is based on the variational princ
iple for the inverse Hamiltonian, and is applicable to Hamiltonians that are bound neither from above nor below. We demonstrate that the method works well not only for the Dirac but also for the HFB equations.
We discuss low-lying collective excitations of $Lambda$ hypernuclei using the self-consistent mean-field approaches. We first discuss the deformation properties of $Lambda$ hypernuclei in the $sd$-shell region. Based on the relativistic mean-field (R
MF) approach, we show that the oblate deformation for $^{28}$Si nucleus may disappear when a $Lambda$ particle is added to this nucleus. We then discuss the rotational excitations of $^{25}_{Lambda}$Mg nucleus using the three-dimensional potential energy surface in the deformation plane obtained with the Skyrme-Hartree-Fock method. The deformation of $^{25}_{Lambda}$Mg nucleus is predicted to be slightly reduced due to an addition of $Lambda$ particle. We demonstrate that this leads to a reduction of electromagnetic transition probability, $B(E2)$, in the ground state rotational band. We also present an application of random phase approximation (RPA) to hypernuclei, and show that a new dipole mode, which we call a soft dipole $Lambda$ mode, appears in hypernuclei, which can be interpreted as an oscillation of $Lambda$ particle against the core nucleus.
We perform three-body model calculations for a $sd$-shell hypernucleus $^{19}_{Lambda}$F ($^{17}_{Lambda}{rm O}+p+n$) and its core nucleus $^{18}$F ($^{16}{rm O}+p+n$), employing a density-dependent contact interaction between the valence proton and
neutron. We find that the $B(E2)$ value from the first excited state (with spin and parity of $I^pi=3^+$) to the ground state ($I^pi=1^+$) is slightly decreased by the addition of a $Lambda$ particle, which exhibits the so called shrinkage effect of $Lambda$ particle. We also show that the excitation energy of the $3^+$ state is reduced in $^{19}_{Lambda}$F compared to $^{18}$F, as is observed in a $p$-shell nucleus $^{6}$Li. We discuss the mechanism of this reduction of the excitation energy, pointing out that it is caused by a different mechanism from that in $^{7}_{Lambda}$Li.
We extend the relativistic point coupling model to single-$Lambda$ hypernuclei. For this purpose, we add $N$-$Lambda$ effective contact couplings to the model Lagrangian, and determine the parameters by fitting to the experimental data for $Lambda$ b
inding energies. Our model well reproduces the data over a wide range of mass region although some of our interactions yield the reverse ordering of the spin-orbit partners from that of nucleons for heavy hypernuclei. The consistency of the interaction with the quark model predictions is also discussed.
We solve a singe-particle Dirac equation with Woods-Saxon potentials using an iterative method in the coordinate space representation. By maximizing the expectation value of the inverse of the Dirac Hamiltonian, this method avoids the variational col
lapse, in which an iterative solution dives into the Dirac sea. We demonstrate that this method works efficiently, reproducing the exact solutions of the Dirac equation.
We investigate the applicability of finite temperature random phase approximation (RPA) using a solvable Lipkin model. We show that the finite temperature RPA reproduces reasonably well the temperature dependence of total strength, both for the posit
ive energy (i.e., the excitation) and the negative energy (i.e., the de-excitation) parts. This is the case even at very low temperatures, which may be relevant to astrophysical purposes.
We discuss the sensitivity of fission barrier for heavy neutron-rich nuclei to fission paths in the two dimensional neutron-proton quadrupole plane. To this end, we use the constrained Skyrme-Hartree-Fock + BCS method, and examine the difference of f
ission barriers obtained with three constraining operators, that is, the neutron, proton, and mass quadrupole operators. We investigate $^{220}$U, $^{236}$U, and $^{266}$U, %from proton-rich to neutron-rich uranium isotopes, that is relevant to r-process nucleosynthesis. We find that the fission barrier heights are almost the same among the three constraining operators even for neutron-rich nuclei, indicating that the usual way to calculate fission barriers with the mass quadrupole operator is well justified. We also discuss the difference between proton and neutron deformation parameters along the fission paths.
